Fried elephant anyone?

It was on this day, Jan. 4, 1903, when Coney Island’s Luna Park Zoo needed to kill one of its elephants and Thomas Edison with his dangers of alternating current tour of death came to the rescue.

The condemned in question was Topsy, a female elephant that had killed three handlers. She had just narrowly escaped death by hanging due to objections from the SPCA when it was suggested that Edison might help.

And help he did. Edison had been killing stray animals for months using AC currents to electrocute them in hopes of discrediting the use of AC to protect the use of his patented direct current.

So Topsy was wired up, fed some carrots laced with cyanide for good measure, and hit with 6,600 volts of AC warmth.

There is even a video of the execution that Edison filmed and called “Electrocuting an Elephant.” How very apropos.